Committee

A political committee led by Senate Appropriations Chairman Joe Negron, R-Stuart, raised $961,000 during little more than two weeks in November, according to recently filed finance reports. Negron, one of the most influential members of the Florida Senate, represents part of Palm Beach County. The "Treasure Coast Alliance," which lists Negron as its chairman, received large chunks of money from contributors such as Florida Power & Light, MCNA Health Care Holdings LLC and Coral Gables health-care executive Miguel Fernandez, each of which gave $50,000.

Carisse LeJeune, assistant city manager, has been appointed to the Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Legislative Policy Committee for 2014-2015 with the Florida League of Cities. LeJeune, who has been with the city of Boynton Beach for 14 years, supervises the city's enterprise systems, including water utilities and municipal golf course, the Recreation and Parks Department and the city library. "I work in the public sector because I believe in the democratic process," LeJeune said.

After several months of discussing which company should provide chairs and cabanas to people on Delray's beaches, it looks increasingly like nothing will change. But re-bidding the contract could give the city a financial boost. City commissioners have been batting the beach chair question around, worried that last year's no-bid renewal of the contract with Oceanside Beach Services could be costing the city money. But Tuesday, a city review committee recommended that Delray award the concession to Oceanside, which turned out to be the only bidder for the new contract the city put out again in August.

PHILADELPHIA - The Marlins cannot replace Giancarlo Stanton, but someone will start in right field nonetheless. With left Cole Hamels on the mound Friday, manager Mike Redmond gave that first assignment to the right-handed hitting Ed Lucas. The Marlins could bring up another player, but Redmond said that had not been discussed. "Right now I would say we'll probably stick with the guys we have," Redmond said. "We have some extra bodies…We'll just have to mix and match and piece it together.

— The recall committee that formed to try to force City Commissioner Patte Atkins-Grad from office is gearing up to try again after a failed first attempt. "If you don't succeed, try, try again and never, never make the same mistake twice," said organizer Alvin Entin. He said the committee will again start collecting signatures March 27, just after the first two nights of Passover. The committee then has 30 days to get 1,250 signatures. This time their plan is different: They'll use an Excel spreadsheet to figure out which names were correct from the first round of signatures and create walking lists for volunteers to get back to those people quickly, Entin said.

Ask anyone who is part of the equestrian community if they have heard of Mason Phelps and chances are they know him, know someone who knows him or they have heard of him. So when the Palms West Chamber of Commerce and Palms West Community Foundation wanted to grow their presence in the equestrian community they turned to Mason Phelps. "I have known Mason for years," said Maureen Gross, the foundation's director of community development. "We knew he would be a perfect fit for helping us develop our equestrian committee.

After word got out that I had been subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee, 20th Century-Fox mysteriously reached into my life; Spyros Skouras paid us a surprise visit the evening before I left for Washington, in a try at getting me to cooperate with the committee. He had called from Hollywood to ask Marilyn if he could stop by as soon as he got to New York. I knew what this meant, of course, since the president of 20th Century-Fox was not in the habit of making such flying visits.

The company that has publicized Broward County`s tourism for seven years was ranked first on Monday to win another two-year contract. A committee of county and local tourism officials gave the nod to M. Silver Associates Inc. of New York City over two competitors. The publicity contract amounts to about $200,000 a year. The contract must still be negotiated by the committee and approved by the County Commission.

A new political action committee was launched in Fort Lauderdale last week, but who is behind it and why is largely a mystery. The group operates under the name The Committee for Ethics in Government. Its address is a mail drop at a downtown UPS store. Messages left on its voicemail draw no response. And federal and state records identify the committee chairwoman as a 21-year-old political unknown who shares an address with her parents in Davie. Federal and state records do reveal the committee was established by Republican campaign accounting guru Nancy Watkins of Tampa.

Game, set, match goes to the city of Sunrise, which beat out Delray Beach and a few other sites to host the upcoming Davis Cup event between Israel and Argentina. The International Tennis Federation, the ruling body over Davis Cup, wouldn't allow Israel to host the World Group relegation tie in Tel Aviv from Sept. 12-14 because of the country's ongoing conflict with Hamas. Pavel Lisovtsev, the deputy director of the Israel Tennis Association, visited the Sunrise Tennis Club on Sunday and the Delray Beach Tennis Center on Monday.

Boca Raton would be the first coastal city in Palm Beach County to install special mats on the beach so that more people could get to the water, if a city committee proposal gets any traction. The Boca Raton Advisory Board for People with Disabilities came to the City Council on Monday asking that Mobi-Mat RecPaths be included in next year's budget to even out the beach sand and make the inclines toward the water more navigable for people who come with wheelchairs, strollers or canes.

For the past seven years, a group of local veterans and community activists known as the Palm Beach County Veterans committee has sponsored a "Memorial Day Ceremony" to remember and honor the nation's veterans who lost their lives in service to the country. Memorial Day, formerly known as Decoration Day, originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the union and confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War. By the 20th century, Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died while in the military service.

Boynton Beach plans to do all it can to help its residents with mental health issues. That's why on Wednesday, at the city's meeting, the commission unanimously agreed to create a seven-person citizen's advisory committee focused on mental health outreach. The committee will be the first in Palm Beach County on a city level. The county has its own mental health committee, said Dr. Seth Bernstein of The Action Alliance for Mental Health in Palm Beach County . "I'm very supportive of the citizen's advisory committee," Bernstein said at the meeting.

Boynton Beach wants to do something to help residents with mental health issues. On Wednesday, the City Commission will discuss creating a mental health citizen's committee to make sure those who are suffering get the appropriate help. Mayor Jerry Taylor requested that the item be put on the agenda at the city's last meeting. Taylor suggested the city create an advisory board, but staff recommends a citizen's committee so the program won't be city-funded and event planning doesn't conflict with the Sunshine Law. "What are we doing about [mental health]

TALLAHASSEE - Stiffer sentences for drivers who flee fatal crash scenes were approved by a House committee Wednesday. The House measure is named for Aaron Cohen, 35, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver while cycling across Miami's Rickenbacker Causeway in 2012. His killer served less than a year in jail. The bill (HB 183) would create a four-year mandatory minimum prison sentence for drivers convicted of fleeing fatal crash scenes. "If and when the next cyclist gets hit and left there, justice will be served," said Mickey Witte, a fellow Miami cyclist who helped launch the initiative that would become the "Aaron Cohen Life Protection Act. " Michele Traverso left the scene and turned himself in 17 hours later.

Miami came to Atlanta for this weekend's ACC Tournament looking for as many wins as it could muster in order to convince the NCAA Tournament committee that it belonged in the field of 68. But following a loss to Florida State on Friday night in the quarterfinal round of the tournament, the Hurricanes may not have done enough. As one of several "bubble" teams who bracket experts for weeks have believed needed a strong conference tournament run, the Hurricanes were probably, at best, two wins shy of impressing the committee to the point they would be included in the NCAA Tournament, which begins next week.

TALLAHASSEE - Stiffer sentences for drivers who flee fatal crash scenes were approved by a House committee Wednesday. Instances of fleeing drivers have hit near-epidemic proportions in South Florida, with statistics showing that deadly hit-and-runs occur nearly once a week in the tri-county area. The House measure is named for Aaron Cohen, 35, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver while cycling across Miami's Rickenbacker Causeway in 2012. His killer served less than a year in jail.

The last sprint in Boca's mayoral election has a new wrinkle: the TV attack ad. This one, which started airing last week, is aimed at candidate Anthony Majhess and features an actor portraying "Majhess" having fun at a pool hall and then driving off on his motorcycle to skip City Council meetings. "Anthony Majhess missed meetings so he could ride, far from Boca," an announcer intones over a guffawing biker crowd, clinking beer bottles and clicking billiard balls. After a quick run-through concerning his city employment and votes on development, the tag line comes: "Majhess a no-show for meetings and probably on vacation.